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Volunteers painting porches in Easton's West Ward in hopes of inspiring community

west ward porch.JPG

Tom Hollenbach, of Perkasie, left, Jim Coffarelli of Bethehem, center, and Joan Hollenbach, of Perkasie, right, paint a fence along Washington Street in Easton on April 12, 2014, as part of a porch cleanup project.
(Express-Times Photo | Amy Herzog)

Volunteers in Easton
are trying to spruce up the West Ward step by step.

Faced with limited funds, they decided the best way to give
the 1000 block of Washington Street
a face-lift would be to clean and paint each resident's front porch.

"We were trying to think of a creative way to do something
with the little money we had," said Lynne Holden, a project coordinator for the
West Ward Neighborhood Partnership. "Just painting one or two facades on a
block doesn't make much of a difference. We tried to think of how we can make a
bigger impact."

David Wilson, of Wilson Borough, sands paint off a porch railing during a porch clean up in the West Ward on April 12, 2014.Express-Times Photo | Amy Herzog

Each Saturday in April, more than 30 people gather between
10th and 11th streets armed with paintbrushes and drop cloths.

Holden has teamed up with Mike Hollenbach of the Bridge
Community Church
to attack the weathered porches. They hope a fresh look will inspire a sense of
community.

"The more time we spend on the streets, on our porches, the
greater chance we have of actually forming relationships and reconnecting with
our neighbors," Hollenbach said.

Holden and Hollenbach set up operations at 9 a.m. each Saturday and hand out assignments to
the volunteers. First, they cleaned the porches with power washers that the
workers brought from their own homes. After that, they sanded the porches and
began painting.

Without much money available to them, they knew they would
need to be creative. The group contacted Sherwin-Williams, which donated paint for
the project. Home Depot donated gift cards for other needed
supplies.

A lot of the volunteers live in the West Ward and many belong to the Bridge Community Church. Church member Ashley Bunnell is a
25-year-old transplant from Quakertown. She attended Lafayette College and
decided to stay in Easton after she graduated. She and her husband moved to
15th Street six months ago.

"I'm coming out to support the community," Bunnell said.
"We're trying to make the neighborhood look welcoming. We love Easton."

Before work began, Holden knocked on doors and asked
homeowners for their permission to include them in the project. She discussed
color and other preferences with the neighbors. Holden has a background in
design and tried to be sensitive to certain older buildings and maintain historical
elements.

According to Holden, the project has been going so well that the
group is looking toward its next phase: planting trees along Washington
Street in conjunction with Easton's
urban forester, Tess Mondello.

Volunteers have been coming in from churches outside Easton,
too, and Lafayette College
students make up part of the workforce.
Hollenbach said he hopes that every year, the volunteers can take a month
to make improvements in the West Ward or other neighborhoods.